London agent Ronke Maye who has 20 years under her belt at KFH, Foxtons and Haart says her approach – doing it totally on her own – is the way forward for the industry.

Picture this. You are a 40-something estate agent with 20 years at high-profile estate agency corporates, and you’ve grown weary of the 9-5 grind. So you quit your job and set up as an independent using your own name and boards and go for it.

That is what London-based agent Ronke Maye  (main image) has done, but not using one of the industry’s many self-employed estate agent ‘platforms’, instead opting to go it alone.

So it’s just Ronke, her little black book, her years of experience, a supportive personal and business partner, an email account and a website.

So unusual is this in today’s property industry that The Neg just had to talk to her.

First impressions of Ronke are that she is an unusually energetic ball of positivity and, to put it mildly, has good sales skills – abilities that have propelled her to attain a law degree initially before joining the property industry with a job as an estate agent at Haart in 2004.

She then moved on to KFH where she rose to be the firm’s Catford branch manager after managing the office’s ‘cold start’, and then a stint at Foxtons in Peckham and Streatham as a valuer.

“The light bulb moment for me was when a customer came through the door and told me that, although he didn’t like Foxtons, he had faith in me and on that basis would instruct,” she says.

“I saw his invoice and realised, after my 5%, how much Foxtons was getting even though it was I who had landed the deal, and I thought ‘this is the final straw’.

“And that’s when I understood that it’s not the brand so much, but the individual agent that really matters to customers.”

Walking success

Another reason for her move into self-employment came from Covid when, faced with lockdowns, she took up walking and put her daily efforts on social media, garnering several thousand followers, walking 300 miles and raising £2,500 for charity.

“I thought this DIY approach could be applied to the property market and you know what, it also dawned on me that these big corporates don’t really care about you – and that instead you can go it alone and I’m doing everything to put my name out there, “ she says.

That’s why I’m trading under my name – the public may not like the industry but if you give a totally personal service then it’s different

“That’s why I’m trading under my name – the public may not like the industry but if you give a totally personal service then it’s different – but that doesn’t mean it’s not daunting; this is a big leap.”

Ronke says she had a cardio health scare recently and that also made her think it was time to ‘go it alone’ and be herself, rather than a cog within a big firm.

Her plan is now reality and following a launch at the Science Museum (pictured) last month, her estate agency is now live.

“It’s not on the high street yet as I build it up but I’ve got my first dozen or so instructions, and I plan to secure a branch once the business is fully up-and-running, and get into lettings later,” she adds.

“This is the way the industry is going – one person who deals with each customer’s house sale from valuation to completion; too many corporates don’t take this approach – they are being dishonest with the customer because the valuer disappears after instruction, and often then inexperienced staff take over.

“That’s where my approach differs.”